


Romance? Oh god

by Skypan



Category: Flight 29 Down
Genre: Canon Compliant, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Jackson centric, Jackson is kinda OOC, Misunderstandings, Nathan/Daley is mentioned for about two seconds, We will have more MJ fluff even if I have to write it myself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:42:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25900792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skypan/pseuds/Skypan
Summary: Jackson hears Melissa say that she wants him to be more romantic.Set a few months after the crash, pure fluff
Relationships: Cody Jackson/Melissa Wu
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	Romance? Oh god

Jackson sighs to himself as the final bell of the day rings. He stands with the rest of the class, slinging his backpack over one shoulder and making his way to his locker.

Its Friday, a small blessing.

_Maybe Mel and I can go see a movie this weekend._ He thinks as he stuffs even more into his already full backpack.

Its been a few months since they were rescued, and life has returned to… As normal as its probably going to get. Paparazzi had finally stopped showing up outside the school, and all of them were in therapy (Eric had refused to go for a long time, but he finally caved after his fourth panic attack in one week). Nathan and Daley were dating, as well as Jackson and Melissa.

He shuts his locker and makes his way down the hall to find his girlfriend. He spots her, her back turned to him as she talks to Daley. He’s about to walk over when he catches a bit of their conversation.

“…A bit of romance isn’t too much to ask,” Melissa is saying. “I mean, he doesn’t have to be over the top, but flowers every once in a while would be nice.”

He misses whatever Daley says next as he frowns, ducking into the doorway of a classroom so they won’t see him.

“Yeah you’re right, it would be nice of him to at least offer to carry books or something,” she says next.

_She wants me to be more romantic?_ He thinks. His first instinct is to feel slighted, a little hurt. Sure, he’s not the most romantic guy in the world, but he had warned her from the very beginning that he wasn’t good at all of this. And he was trying his best!

But then again… It had been months, and he had never even officially asked her to be his girlfriend. He knew they were exclusive – _oh god, we’re exclusive, right?_ – but they had started dating in a slow, easy way. He had called the week after they were rescued, just like he had promised, and asked if she wanted to hang out.

From there they went on dates at least weekly. He had even tried to do traditionally date-ish things! They had gone to see a scary movie (while he tried not to be too cliché, the idea of her curled up in his arms, letting him _protect_ her… That was appealing, even to him), but to his absolute surprise she apparently loved horror movies. He sat there feeling sick at the sight of so much blood and guts, while she was practically laughing!

Still, she must know how he felt. She had to know that she was his favorite person, his best friend, that he wouldn’t even look twice at anyone else. He had met her parents for crying out loud!

_If she wants romance, I’ll give her romance,_ he thinks stubbornly, rolling back his shoulders and heading back out into the crowd.

He waits until Sunday to start his plan. He doesn’t want to make it too obvious that he overheard her complaints about him. After all, this was sparked by the eavesdropping, but that doesn’t mean its not genuine.

He shows up for their date and nervously rings the doorbell. He’s wearing a button up shirt, which just makes him more nervous. _I probably look like a dork,_ he thinks, missing his usual t-shirts and jackets.

“Coming!” Her voice calls from inside, and a moment later the door is opening. “Hey Jackson-“

She’s cut off by him thrusting the bouquet of flowers towards her. She actually takes a step back in surprise.

“…Flowers?” She asks, and he nods.

“For you,” he explains, hoping his hands aren’t shaking.

“For me,” She parrots.

“I mean, only if you want them,” he says quickly, starting to pull his arms back. He feels a little ridiculous, just standing there with his arms thrust out.

“No, no, I want them,” she reassures, reaching out and taking them gracefully from him. “But, um, what’s the occasion?”

“No occasion, they just reminded me of you,” he says, which is true. The bright yellow daisies had immediately reminded him of Melissa’s sunny smile.

“Oh,” she says, still a little shell shocked. “Thank you?”

“You ready to go?” He asks, breaking the awkward spell they both seem to be under.

“Sure, let me just put these in some water,” she says, turning around and disappearing into the house again.

When she comes back she locks the door, then turns back to him with a smile. “All ready.”

“Great,” he says, taking her out to his car. He makes sure to open the door for her, which makes her giggle.

When he slides in and starts driving to the theater, he can feel her watching him.

“What?” He asks, keeping his eyes on the road.

“We’re just going to a movie, right?”

“Uh, yeah?” He asks, panicking for half a second. “Did you… Want to do something else?”

“You’re just dressed so nicely,” she explains. “I feel a bit underdressed.”

“You look great,” he says quickly. Its true, she always looks beautiful. Whether she’s all glammed up or slumming it in sweats, she takes his breath away.

“Thank you, so do you,” she says.

“Just felt like putting in a little effort,” he says as he pulls into the parking lot.

“Hm, okay,” she says with a nod. She’s not buying it, but she won’t question it either.

He breathes a sigh of relief when the movie finally starts. Two hours where he can’t make a fool of himself.

“Hey Mel,” Jackson greets as he sits down next to her at lunch. “Brought you something.”

“Oh?” She asks, looking over in surprise. Its Wednesday, he wanted to lay low for a few days so she wouldn’t get any more suspicious than she already was.

He wordlessly slides over a bag of Sour Patch Kids to her. He knows she has an affinity for the candy, she always eyes it in the case at the theater, or in line at the store.

“Wow, thank you!” She says with a grin. “These are my favorite.”

“I know,” he says with a half smile.

“You’re the best,” she said, leaning over to kiss his cheek. He takes a bite of his sandwich to hide his dorky grin.

He sees some other guy talking to her after class one day. One of the guys from the football team, if his Jersey is anything to go off of. “Jameson” the name on the back says. He can’t help but frown as something the guy says makes her laugh.

His thoughts stray back to the overheard conversation, and his anxieties over it.

He makes a decision and walks over to them, sliding his arm around Mel’s shoulders.

“Hey babe,” he says lightly. She looks at him in surprise. He’s not one for PDA, and she knows it. “Whose this?”

“Greg Jameson,” the guy answers with an easy smile.

“Jackson,” he says back, not returning the smile.

“I tutor Jameson in Pre-calc,” Mel says, trying to diffuse the weird tension, but Jackson just keeps up his glare at the guy. “Well, we’d better be going, see you tomorrow Jameson!

She quickly steers Jackson away, heading towards her locker. “What was that about?” She asks quietly.

He doesn’t answer, just moves to stand beside her locker as she opens it.

“Jackson?” Mel prompts, a little worried.

“We’re exclusive, right?” He asks suddenly, looking down at her.

“Um… I thought so?” She asks, more worried than before.

“Thought so?”

“Until you asked, I mean. I’ve been calling you my boyfriend for a while now… Oh god, should I not have been doing that?” She bites her lip nervously, her eyes even bigger in her panic.

“No, that’s okay,” he hurries to say. Hearing her say that calmed his own worries. “I am definitely your boyfriend.”

“And I’m your girlfriend?” She asks shyly.

“My girlfriend,” he confirms, stepping forward to pull her into a hug and pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

She rests against him gratefully. This is one of his favorite things, how they fit together perfectly. She’s so little, he can curl around her and shield her from the world. He wants to make sure she’s safe, always. He knows that’s not the healthiest thing, he’s talked to his therapist about it, but after everything they’ve been through…

“Do you want to hang out at my house tonight?” She breaks through his thoughts. “My parents are gone on business.”

“Sure,” he says, pressing another kiss to her hair. Despite how this might sound to anyone else, he knows it will just be them doing homework and eating hot pockets. She’s not ready for anything else yet, and he’s actually happy keeping things on a more innocent level. He doesn’t want to rush this.

“Hey, Mel!” He calls out, hurrying to catch up to her in the bustling hallway.

“Hey Jackson,” she replies with a smile.

“Can I carry your books?” he asks, which makes her laugh. “No, seriously.”

“Uh, I’m okay, thanks?” She says, more of a question than a statement.

“Are you sure? I don’t mind-“

“Okay, we have got to talk,” she says suddenly. He swallows nervously.

“We need to talk?”

“Not like that!” she exclaims. “Just… Meet me outside at lunch, okay?”

“Okay…” He says, watching her go as she heads to class.

_That’s it,_ he thinks glumly. _I guess it wasn’t enough…_

He spends his next class spaced out, earbuds in. He wants to think of a plan, of something that he can apologize for or do to make it better. But he has no idea what he’s done. Maybe she found someone new, someone less broken. Someone whose never hurt her. Someone more romantic.

Finally the bell rings, and he dawdles as long as he can getting his lunch from his locker, but eventually he has to head outside. He spots her immediately, she’s sat under the tree from his first day, where she came over and introduced herself. The tree where he told her he wouldn’t need her help. _How wrong I was…_

“Hey,” he says gruffly as he plops down next to her, making her jump.

“There you are! I was getting worried."

“What did you want to talk about?” He asks, never one to beat around the bush.

“What is going on with you?” Melissa counters, seemingly off topic. “You’ve been acting strange.

“What do you mean?”

“All this door holding business, the flowers, the candy, trying to carry my books? What is going on?”

“You didn’t like that stuff?” He asks, now absolutely puzzled.

“That’s not the point,” she dismisses. “The point is that you’re not acting like yourself. And I want to know why.”

“I’ve just been trying to be more… romantic?”

“Why?” she asks, her face scrunched up in confusion.

“Because its what you wanted?”

“It is?” Its like she really doesn’t remember.

“I overheard you talking to Daley,” he confesses. “A few weeks ago. I heard you talking about me.”

“Huh?” She asks, still confused.

“You said that I should be more romantic! That flowers aren’t too much to ask, or carrying your books… I’ve just been trying to do what you wanted!” He says, feeling frustrated that all of his hard work was deemed _weird_ instead of romantic. Is he really so terrible of a boyfriend that it was out of character for him to treat her well?

Suddenly, Mel starts laughing.

“What’s so funny?” He asks sourly. She’s laughing so hard she can’t talk, and then she leans her head on his shoulder, catching her breath.

“We weren’t talking about you!” She says quickly, then starts laughing again.

“What?” He says again.

“Man, you are terrible at eavesdropping,” she says, calming herself. “Because it was pretty obvious that we were talking about _Nathan._ ”

“Nathan?” He asks, not comprehending.

“Daley was saying that she wanted _him_ to be more romantic. She felt like they weren’t serious enough. She ended up talking to him about it, and it all worked out,” Melissa explained, smiling.

“So… You didn’t think I needed to be more romantic?”

“Jackson, you met my parents. You hold my hand at the movies. You came to my art show, and even let me put in a portrait of you. You are definitely romantic,” she points out.

“But I had never brought you flowers,” he argues. “Or carried your books.”

“So you’re not traditionally romantic,” she shrugs. “Maybe I don’t want a cookie cutter relationship. Maybe I want to be in a relationship with _you._ And you aren’t just anyone – you do romance your own way.”

“Are you sure?” He can’t help but ask, because he needs to know. “There’s not anything you would change?”

“Not a thing,” she assures. “You’re probably more romantic than me. I mean, I’ve never brought _you_ flowers.”

Jackson laughs a bit, knowing that she’s only teasing. “That’s okay. I like you just the way you are too.”

“Thank goodness,” she says dryly. “I was so worried.”

They spend the rest of lunch eating and laughing and teasing each other.

Later that night, she leaves a bouquet of black roses and a CD she burned at home on his porch.

It definitely doesn’t make him blush, not even when the song “Criminal” by Britney Spears is hidden in the midst of the mix tape.


End file.
